Washington on Friday condemned caricatures in European newspapers of the Prophet Mohammad, siding with Muslims who are outraged that the publications put press freedom over respect for religion. By inserting itself into a dispute that has become a lightning rod for anti-European sentiment across the Muslim world, the United States could help its own battered image among Muslims."These cartoons are indeed offensive to the belief of Muslims," State Department spokesman Kurtis Cooper said in answer to a question. "We all fully recognize and respect freedom of the press and expression but it must be coupled with press responsibility. Inciting religious or ethnic hatreds in this manner is not acceptable.""We call for tolerance and respect for all communities for their religious beliefs and practices," he added.... http://news.yahoo.com

The United Nations nuclear watchdog delayed voting on a resolution to send Iran to the UN Security Council over its atomic program because some countries want the measure to declare the Middle East a nuclear weapons-free zone. The International Atomic Energy Agency's 35-member board of governors will reconvene in Vienna at 10 a.m. local time tomorrow, the IAEA said. The draft resolution, written by European diplomats and backed by the U.S., says the IAEA ``doesn't have confidence that Iran's nuclear program is exclusively for peaceful purposes.'' A referral to the Security Council may result in economic sanctions. IAEA Director General Mohammed ElBaradei said the measure has enough votes to pass. ...http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000087&sid=aJmAeiynGLTM&refer=home

A series of fires damaged six rural Alabama churches overnight, and investigators Friday were trying to determine whether they were arson. Most of the churches were Baptist, located near major highways, and all but one were in Bibb County, about 25 miles south of Birmingham. The other church, in Chilton County, had been undergoing construction, which could have been a source of the fire, said Ragan Ingram, a spokesman for the state insurance agency that oversees fire investigations. That church, New Harmony Baptist in Fairview, was destroyed. No arrests had been made Friday morning. In 1996, race was a factor in a series of arsons that damaged rural black churches in Alabama and elsewhere. But Ingram said the fires late Thursday and early Friday destroyed both the churches of predominantly black congregations and predominantly white congregations. ...http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/02/03/national/main1277782.shtml?CMP=OTC-RSSFeed&source=RSS&attr=U.S._1277782

The Netherlands will send an extra 1,400 troops to southern Afghanistan, after parliament ended six months of wrangling to approve the deployment. Despite opposition from one of three parties in the ruling coalition, most MPs supported the plan, including those from the main opposition Labour party. Nato, the UN and US have been urging the Netherlands to send the extra troops to bolster peacekeeping work. Polls show that Dutch public opinion is almost equally divided on the issue. Many Dutch MPs had demanded assurances that the country's troops would not have to work under US forces in Afghanistan. Democrats-66, the smallest party in the coalition government, opposed the plan on the grounds that the Dutch forces would inherit hostility generated by a "failed" US mission in the region. ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4673026.stm

A lawyer for an Ohio trucker who pleaded guilty to plotting to destroy the Brooklyn Bridge has prepared a motion asking a federal judge to throw out the case on the grounds that the government illegally spied on him. Iyman Faris' challenge is among the first to seek evidence of warrantless electronic eavesdropping by the National Security Agency, a practice that began after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Government officials have reportedly credited the practice with uncovering Faris' terrorist plot and several others. Faris' attorney David Smith said he planned to file the motion Friday in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Va. It will argue that investigators improperly obtained evidence against Faris and that his trial lawyer was ineffective....http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=1576410&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312

The U.S. spy agencies have not known where Osama bin Laden is hiding for some time, the nation’s top intelligence official said Friday in an Associated Press interview.National Intelligence Director John Negroponte said the general view is that the terror leader and his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri, are still alive.Yet “we are not certain where he is,” Negroponte said of bin Laden during a rare interview at his office. “I think it’s been a while since we had a fix on that. ... Every now and then they broadcast messages to their following and the world as a way of proving they are alive.” In the last two weeks, bin Laden and al-Zawahri have delivered recorded messages promising more attacks on the West. It was bin Laden’s first public statement in more than a year....http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11161834/from/RSS/